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Biomaterials & Devices: 147 3D models

Hydrogels, scaffolds, fibres, microneedles, implants, chips and dosage forms (real sizes µm–cm). Each one is a ready-made 3D model you can turn, recolour and place in a figure — open BioDioRama and type its name in the Library search.

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Hydrogels · Scaffolds & fibres · Devices, implants & dosage forms · Engineered surfaces · Delivery & application forms · Implants & biomaterials (teeth, bone and joints)

Hydrogels 29

Hydrogel (covalent network) — A water-swollen polymer network held by covalent crosslinks; cut open to see chains and crosslinks. Looks the same as: PEG hydrogel, Hydrogel disc.
GelMA hydrogel with cells — Photo-crosslinked gelatin methacryloyl — the go-to bioink for cell-laden constructs.
Alginate hydrogel (egg-box) — Calcium ions zip guluronate blocks of neighbouring alginate chains into "egg-box" junctions.
Hyaluronic acid hydrogel — Crosslinked hyaluronan — dermal fillers and cartilage repair.
Chitosan hydrogel — A physically crosslinked chitosan gel — antibacterial wound dressings.
Agarose gel — Helical agarose bundles form a physical gel — electrophoresis and cell culture.
Collagen hydrogel — A fibrous network of self-assembled collagen fibrils, the main ECM protein. Looks the same as: Fibrin gel.
Matrigel / basement-membrane gel with organoid cells — A tumour-derived basement-membrane extract that supports organoid growth.
Self-assembling peptide hydrogel — Short peptides (e.g. RADA16) stack into nanofibres that entangle into a gel.
Thermo-responsive hydrogel (collapsed) — PNIPAM or poloxamer gels shrink and expel water above a critical temperature — slide "Swelling".
Double-network hydrogel — A brittle first network plus a stretchy second network gives cartilage-like toughness.
Interpenetrating network hydrogel — Two independent networks threaded through each other.
Nanocomposite hydrogel — Nanoparticles or nanoclay reinforce the network and add functions (heat, imaging).
Conductive hydrogel — Carbon nanotubes or conductive polymers make the gel carry electrical signals — cardiac and nerve patches.
Magnetic hydrogel (ferrogel) — Iron-oxide particles let a magnet deform the gel and squeeze out drug.
Drug-eluting hydrogel — A depot gel releasing drug or growth factors as it swells and degrades.
Microporous annealed particle (MAP) gel — Microgels bonded together leave micron-sized pores that cells migrate through.
Granular hydrogel (jammed microgels) — Packed microgels behave like a solid at rest and flow when pushed — injectable and printable.
Hydrogel bead — A spherical hydrogel particle.
Hydrogel plug (cylinder) — A cylindrical gel plug, as cast in a mould for compression testing or to fill a cartilage defect.
Hydrogel fibre / filament — A wet-spun, microfluidic or bioprinted gel filament — the building block of printed and woven constructs.
Hydrogel film / sheet — A thin cast gel sheet — wound dressings, corneal and cardiac patches, mucoadhesive films.
Hydrogel tube (conduit) — A hollow gel conduit for nerve guidance or small-diameter vessels.
Hydrogel ring — A gel ring — vaginal rings, engineered tissue rings for tensile tests, and annular implants.
Hydrogel drop on a surface — A sessile drop that gelled in place — eye and skin drops, drop-cast coatings, contact-angle tests.
Falling gel drop — A drop of pre-gel solution leaving a nozzle — dripping alginate into calcium chloride makes beads.
In-situ forming gel (irregular) — An injected liquid that gelled inside the body, taking the shape of the cavity it filled.
Hollow hydrogel capsule (core–shell) — A gel shell around a liquid core holding cells or drug — immune-isolating cell capsules.
Microgels (loose) — Separate micron-scale gel particles — injectable carriers that pack into granular gels.

Scaffolds & fibres 14

Gyroid scaffold (TPMS) — A triply periodic minimal surface lattice — fully interconnected pores, popular for 3D-printed bone scaffolds.
Gyroid sheet scaffold — The gyroid as a thin sheet separating two interwoven channel networks.
Schwarz-P scaffold — A primitive TPMS lattice with round, cubic-arranged pores.
Diamond TPMS scaffold — A diamond-type minimal-surface lattice.
Titanium lattice implant — A 3D-printed porous titanium lattice that bone grows into.
3D-printed scaffold (woodpile) — Layers of extruded struts stacked at 0°/90° — the classic FDM / bioprinted scaffold.
Bioprinted scaffold with cells — A printed scaffold seeded with cells on its surface.
Porous foam scaffold (salt-leached) — A sponge-like polymer with spherical pores made by leaching out salt or gas foaming. Looks the same as: Collagen sponge.
Honeycomb scaffold — Aligned hexagonal channels guide cells and vessels.
Electrospun nanofibre mat — A non-woven mat of random nanofibres that mimics extracellular matrix.
Aligned electrospun fibres — Aligned fibres guide nerve and muscle cells to grow in one direction.
Core–shell drug-eluting fibres — Coaxial electrospinning puts drug in the fibre core for sustained release.
Beaded nanofibres — Fibres with beads — a common electrospinning defect that can also hold drug.
Electrospun mat with cells — Cells spreading on a nanofibre mat.

Devices, implants & dosage forms 36

Microneedle patch (solid) — An array of sub-millimetre needles that painlessly pierce the outer skin layer to create micro-channels.
Coated microneedles — Solid microneedles coated with a dry drug or vaccine film that dissolves in the skin.
Dissolving microneedles — Polymer needles with drug-loaded tips that dissolve completely in the skin.
Hollow microneedles — Tiny hollow needles that inject a liquid formulation.
Hydrogel-forming microneedles — Needles that swell in skin fluid, opening channels for drug from a reservoir — also used to sample interstitial fluid.
Separable arrowhead microneedles — Drug-loaded arrowheads detach and stay in the skin for sustained release.
Microneedles in skin — A microneedle patch pressed into the skin.
Drug-eluting stent — A cobalt-chromium mesh tube coated with an antiproliferative drug (sirolimus, everolimus) to keep arteries open.
Stent in an artery — An expanded stent holding open an artery (wall cut away).
Bare-metal stent — An uncoated metal stent.
Contact lens — A soft silicone-hydrogel lens — can be drug-eluting.
Drug-eluting contact lens — A contact lens with a drug-loaded ring for sustained ocular delivery.
Intraocular lens — An artificial lens implanted during cataract surgery.
Catheter (cut-away) — A polymer catheter tube.
Antimicrobial-coated catheter — A catheter with a silver or antibiotic coating to prevent infection.
Vascular graft — A synthetic blood-vessel substitute (ePTFE or Dacron).
Nerve guidance conduit — A tube with aligned fibres guiding regrowing nerve fibres across a gap.
Transcatheter heart valve — A crimpable stent frame with three pericardial leaflets.
Wound dressing (layers) — Semi-permeable film, absorbent foam or hydrogel and an antimicrobial contact layer.
Transdermal patch (layers) — Backing, drug reservoir, rate-controlling membrane, adhesive and release liner.
Oral thin film — A dissolving film placed on the tongue.
Surgical suture — A curved needle with absorbable braided suture.
Subdermal implant rod — A polymer rod releasing hormone for years (e.g. contraceptive implant).
Osmotic pump — Water swells the osmotic agent and pushes drug out at a constant rate (ALZET, OROS).
Microchip drug reservoirs — Silicon chip with sealed drug wells opened on command by dissolving gold caps.
Film-coated tablet (cut) — A tablet core of drug and excipients under a film or enteric coating.
Bilayer tablet — An immediate-release layer stacked on a sustained-release layer.
Hard capsule (cut) — A two-piece gelatin capsule filled with powder or pellets.
Softgel capsule — A soft gelatin shell around a liquid fill.
Coated pellets — Multi-particulate coated beads for modified release.
Organ-on-a-chip — A microfluidic chip with two channels separated by a porous membrane lined with cells (e.g. lung-on-a-chip).
Droplet microfluidic chip — A flow-focusing junction that pinches water into droplets in oil — for making microgels and particles.
Transwell insert — A porous membrane insert for barrier and migration assays (e.g. BBB models).
Syringe with drug solution — A syringe filled with a drug solution.
Autoinjector pen — A spring-loaded pen injector (insulin, GLP-1, epinephrine).
Metered-dose inhaler — A pressurised canister spraying an aerosol of drug droplets into the lungs.

Engineered surfaces 11

Nanopillar surface — Regular nanopillars that steer stem-cell fate and cell adhesion.
Cells on nanopillars — Cells perched on a nanopillar array, with focal adhesions and stress fibres.
Bactericidal nanospikes — Cicada- and dragonfly-wing-like spikes that rupture bacteria mechanically — antibacterial implant surfaces.
Micro-grooved surface — Parallel grooves that align cells (contact guidance).
Self-assembled monolayer (thiol on gold) — Alkanethiols packing on gold into an ordered monolayer with chosen end groups.
Polymer brush surface — Densely grafted polymer chains stretch away from the surface and resist protein fouling.
PEGylated surface — A PEG brush that prevents protein and cell adhesion.
Protein adsorption on a surface — Proteins (fibronectin, albumin, fibrinogen) adsorb within seconds of implantation, deciding what cells see.
Cell adhesion on a substrate — Spread cells anchored by focal adhesions linked to actin stress fibres.
Layer-by-layer film — Alternating polycation / polyanion layers built up on a surface.
Superhydrophobic (lotus) surface — Micro-bumps topped with nano-hairs make water bead up and roll off.

Delivery & application forms 34

Injectable shear-thinning hydrogel — Packed microgels flow through a needle under pressure and set again as a filament once the stress stops — the basis of injectable and printable granular gels. (≈ 1 mL syringe)
Injectable in-situ gelling solution — A liquid that flows easily through a fine needle and gels where it lands — triggered by body temperature, pH, ions or light. (≈ 1 mL syringe)
Injectable paste — A viscous paste (bone cement, calcium phosphate, filler) extruded through a wide-bore needle. (≈ 1 mL syringe)
Dual-barrel syringe with static mixer — Two components — e.g. fibrinogen and thrombin, or two reactive polymers — are pushed together through a helical mixer and set within seconds as a sealant or adhesive. (≈ 2 × 1 mL)
Subcutaneous gel depot — A gel injected under the skin forms a depot in the fat and releases drug for days to months. (skin ≈ 1.5 cm block)
Gel depot releasing drug (weeks) — Drug diffusing out of a shrinking gel depot while a thin fibrous capsule and macrophages form around it. (skin ≈ 1.5 cm block)
Microsphere depot under the skin — Biodegradable PLGA microspheres injected as a suspension release drug as they erode (e.g. leuprolide, naltrexone). (skin ≈ 1.5 cm block)
Intramuscular oily depot — An oily solution of a lipophilic prodrug injected into muscle releases slowly at the oil–water interface (e.g. testosterone, haloperidol decanoate). (skin ≈ 1.5 cm block)
Long-acting nanocrystal injection — Drug nanocrystals injected into muscle dissolve over weeks to months (e.g. paliperidone palmitate, cabotegravir). (skin ≈ 1.5 cm block)
Intradermal injection (bleb) — A small volume injected into the dermis raises a bleb — used for vaccines, tuberculin tests and dermal fillers. (skin ≈ 1.5 cm block)
Subdermal implant in the skin — A drug-releasing polymer rod under the skin, surrounded by a thin fibrous capsule after a few weeks. (skin ≈ 1.5 cm block)
Eye drops — A drop falls from an upside-down dropper bottle onto the eye, spreads over the cornea and drains with the tears — most of it is lost within minutes. (≈ 30–50 µL drop)
In-situ gelling eye drops — Gellan or poloxamer drops turn to gel on contact with tear ions or eye temperature, so they stay on the eye longer. (≈ 30–50 µL drop)
Suspension eye drops — Fine drug particles suspended in the drop (e.g. prednisolone acetate) — shake before use. (≈ 30–50 µL drop)
Emulsion eye drops — An oil-in-water emulsion (e.g. ciclosporin) that looks milky. (≈ 30–50 µL drop)
Nasal spray — A metered pump atomises the formulation into a cone of droplets that coat the nasal lining — for local drugs, vaccines and nose-to-brain delivery.
Spray-on wound dressing — A polymer or fibrin spray laid over a wound forms a thin protective film.
Dripping alginate into calcium (bead making) — Sodium alginate dripped from a needle into a calcium chloride bath gels instantly into beads — the simplest way to encapsulate cells or drug. (≈ 2–4 mm beads)
Extrusion bioprinting — A cell-laden bioink is pushed through a tapered nozzle and laid down road by road, layer by layer, into a porous construct. (≈ 1 cm construct)
Bioprinting with light crosslinking — Each printed layer of GelMA or another photo-crosslinkable bioink is set by blue or UV light as it is laid down. (≈ 1 cm construct)
Freeze-dried powder (vial) — A lyophilised cake of protein, vaccine or nanoparticles, reconstituted with diluent just before injection. (≈ 2–10 mL vial)
Microsphere suspension (vial) — Reconstituted microspheres settle quickly and are resuspended before being drawn up. (≈ 2–10 mL vial)
Injectable emulsion (vial) — A milky lipid emulsion such as propofol or parenteral nutrition. (≈ 2–10 mL vial)
Topical gel from a tube — A clear gel squeezed onto the skin — water-based, cooling and quick to absorb.
Topical cream from a tube — An oil-in-water cream — opaque, spreads easily and washes off.
Ointment from a tube — A greasy, occlusive ointment that holds moisture and drug against the skin.
Contact angle — hydrophilic surface — A water drop spreads on a hydrophilic (e.g. plasma-treated) surface: θ well below 90°. (≈ 2–5 µL drop)
Contact angle — hydrophobic surface — A water drop beads up on a hydrophobic polymer: θ above 90°. (≈ 2–5 µL drop)
Suppository (cut open) — Drug particles dispersed in a fatty base that melts at body temperature. (≈ 2–3 cm)
Vaginal pessary (cut open) — A water-soluble PEG or gelatin pessary that dissolves to release drug. (≈ 2–3 cm)
Hydrogel injected into a bone defect — A cell-laden injectable gel fills an irregular bone defect and seeps into the trabecular pores around it. (≈ 1 cm defect)
Bone cement in a defect — PMMA cement with a radiopacifier, injected through a cannula — as in vertebroplasty and screw augmentation. (≈ 1 cm defect)
Calcium phosphate paste in a defect — A self-setting calcium phosphate cement that remodels into bone. (≈ 1 cm defect)
Bone graft putty in a defect — A mouldable putty carrying ceramic or bone granules, packed into the defect. (≈ 1 cm defect)

Implants & biomaterials (teeth, bone and joints) 23

Dental implant in bone — A titanium implant fused to the jaw bone (no ligament), with its abutment, abutment screw and zirconia crown, cut through the middle so the internal connection shows. (implant 4.3 × 11.5 mm)
Dental implant components — Fixture, abutment, abutment screw and crown separated along the implant axis. (implant 4.3 × 11.5 mm)
Socket grafting (ridge preservation) — An extraction socket packed with calcium phosphate bone-graft granules under a resorbable collagen membrane. (socket about 14 mm deep)
Total hip replacement in the hip — A total hip replacement in the hip, cut through the centre: titanium stem in the femoral canal (press-fit with porous coating, or cemented), ceramic head, polyethylene liner, porous cup and screws in the acetabulum. (adult hip)
Hip replacement components — Stem with porous coating, ceramic head, polyethylene liner and porous acetabular cup laid out side by side. (stem about 14 cm)
Dynamic hip screw (intertrochanteric fracture) — A reduced intertrochanteric fracture held by a sliding lag screw in the head, its barrel and side plate, and cortical screws. (adult hip)
Cannulated screws (femoral neck fracture) — A reduced femoral neck fracture fixed with three parallel cannulated screws in an inverted triangle. (adult hip)
Total knee replacement in the knee — A cruciate-retaining total knee replacement, cut in the coronal plane: cobalt–chrome femoral component on the shaped femur, titanium tray and keel, polyethylene insert and cement, with the posterior cruciate ligament kept. (adult knee)
Intramedullary nail — A reduced shaft fracture held by a cannulated intramedullary nail with proximal and distal locking screws. (shaft 25 mm across)
Locking plate with screws — An oblique fracture compressed by a lag screw and bridged by a locking compression plate with locking screws. (shaft 25 mm across)
External fixator — A comminuted fracture held from outside by Schanz pins, clamps and a carbon-fibre bar. (shaft 25 mm across)
Kyphoplasty (cement in a vertebra) — An osteoporotic compression fracture of L4 partly restored and filled with bone cement through both pedicles. (lumbar spine)
Lumbar disc replacement — The L4–5 disc replaced by two cobalt–chrome endplates with keels and a polyethylene core. (lumbar spine)
Bone screws — Four orthopaedic screws: cortical, partly threaded cancellous, locking (threaded head) and cannulated. (40–45 mm long)
Reverse shoulder replacement components — Glenosphere and baseplate with screws for the glenoid, and the humeral stem with its polyethylene liner. (glenosphere 36 mm)
Total ankle replacement components — Tibial component with pegs, mobile polyethylene bearing and talar dome. (about 35 mm across)
Hydroxyapatite bone scaffold — A macroporous calcium phosphate block: interconnected spherical pores for bone to grow into, with a microporous surface. (block 16 mm)
Bone graft granules — A heap of synthetic β-tricalcium phosphate granules, as packed into bone defects. (granules 1–2 mm)
Porous tantalum (trabecular metal) — An open-cell tantalum network as porous as cancellous bone, used for cups, cones and augments. (block 14 mm)
Antibiotic cement beads — Gentamicin-loaded bone-cement beads on a wire, left in an infected bone cavity. (beads 7 mm)
Bioresorbable interference screw — A cannulated PLLA–hydroxyapatite screw that dissolves as bone replaces it (used to fix ACL grafts). (9 × 28 mm)
Titanium mesh — A curved titanium mesh for cranioplasty or orbital-floor repair. (60 × 44 mm)
Collagen membrane — A resorbable collagen barrier for guided bone regeneration. (36 × 26 mm)